foto: CSG, fb page of Andrej Babiš, collage: SM/Michal Strnad, Andrej Babiš
The rift between the most influential Czech arms dealer Michal Strnad and former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš of the ANO movement has escalated to a shocking level, according to media reports, with first the Military Intelligence and then the National Office against Organised Crime (NCOZ) looking into Strnad's alleged planning to murder Andrej Babiš. Security Magazine brings further exclusive findings on this case.
A shocking allegation: a plan to assassinate Babiš?
Deník N was the first to report on the alleged plans to assassinate the head of the ANO movement. According to the newspaper, a source told Military Intelligence that CSG owner Michal Strnad and the most influential Czech arms dealer was planning to assassinate Andrej Babiš. However, he did not provide any evidence or a recording. He said he only witnessed a communication in which Strnad was supposed to talk about this harsh plan. There were supposedly also other witnesses. According to SECURITY MAGAZINE, the meeting was supposed to have taken place in one of Prague's nightclubs, attended by Strnad's friends, with whom he usually goes out for a night out in the capital.
However, the case did not fall under the competence of the Military Intelligence, so the secret information was passed on to detectives from the NCOZ for further investigation. Although the information was without proof, Military Intelligence officers reportedly wanted to make sure the case would be investigated. The police first called in the head of the ANO movement. Subsequently, Strnad, the arms dealer, also arrived for questioning, but he denied the information, calling the statement untrue.
According to our sources, however, Andrej Babiš was assigned police protection at state expense for several months. This would clearly indicate that the police did not underestimate the information they had received and perceived the threat as a real risk. If this were not the case, it would be an unnecessary waste of taxpayers' money. "The decision to provide short-term protection is made by the director of the regional directorate of the Police of the Czech Republic on the basis of a proposal by his or her professional staff - the Criminal Police and Investigation Service of the regional directorate of the Police of the Czech Republic. When deciding whether to provide protection, it is always assessed whether the existing risk cannot be eliminated by ordinary police activity or whether it is necessary to use the specialized institution of short-term protection," the police explain on their website.
Business intrigue: who crossed who?
But why did the relationship between the two powerful men escalate? It happened at a time when Strnad unsuccessfully bid for Synthesia, a chemical company that is a major producer of nitrocellulose, a key raw material for the arms industry. At the time, Babiš's Agrofert was planning a joint sale of Synthesia and Mafra. According to SECURITY MAGAZINE, the original plan was that Strnad would buy Mafra and Syhntesia together with Karel Pražák. However, according to our sources, Strnad began to negotiate directly with Andrej Babiš and submitted a separate offer behind Pražák's back.
Babiš subsequently behaved like an old business matador. He told Pražák about Strnad's offer, which naturally angered him. In the end, Strnad was then forced out of the whole deal. Babiš and Pražák made a mutually beneficial deal, and in addition to that, there remained a hostility between Babiš and Strnad, which resulted in the investigation of the order to murder Babiš, as we described above.
The discord with Karel Pražák is far from the first dispute between Michal Strnad and his business partners. There is a well-known case of a lawsuit with the American company SARN, which resulted in an unconfirmed loss of CSG and the obligation to pay 80 million crowns to the former partner according to the judgment from September 2023, which was reported by Seznam Zpravy. The case concerned a breach of contract relating to the Americans' stake in Retia. At the time, manager Armen Agas also recalled that this was the second success in the dispute with CSG - the first was against Tatra Defence Vehicle, where TDV acknowledged SARN's claims and an out-of-court settlement was reached.
The ammunition Initiative: An apple of discord?
The tensions surrounding the relationship between Babiš and Strnad could also be seen in the context of the ammunition initiative, which Andrej Babiš has long criticised. The initiative acquires artillery ammunition for Ukraine, which the Czech Republic started last year and wants to continue. The ANO movement has long and systematically criticised this initiative. The ex-premier does not criticise the support for Ukraine itself, but is bothered by the lack of transparency of the current Czech ammunition initiative, which he sees as a giant PR. His colleague from the ANO movement, ex-minister Karel Havlicek, also uses similar rhetoric. He described the initiative as problematic and non-transparent.
„The cleanest solution is one that would consist in letting a NATO service organisation do it. After all, there is a completely professional organisation, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, which is supposed to serve this purpose, in the sense of supplying member and other countries, which ideally includes Ukraine,“ Havlicek told SECURITY MAGAZINE in an interview in early February. He was reacting to a statement he made to RESPEKT that if the ANO movement were in government, they would not continue the munitions initiative.
Babiš’s criticism aims explicitely agains the Czechoslovak Group
Opposition parties usually do not name specific private companies when criticizing various causes. As a rule, they stick to labels such as „friendly companies are profiting from it“ and the like. In this case, however, ex-prime minister Babiš did not mince his words and criticised Strnad's arms empire directly. In a pre-election debate on the European elections with Prime Minister Fiala, Babiš literally said: „The ammunition for Ukraine is of poor quality, we have to replenish parts, says the Czech armourer for whom the President is phoning the Greek Prime Minister, Zelensky, he is the main lobbyist today for the ammunition that does not work, that is old and moldy. Even the ammunition is still of Russian origin. And you know who gave them the money? I'll tell you. Out of the 39 billion, Germany paid 500 million euros directly to the Ministry of Defence for the selected Czech armourer. That's 12.5 billion. That's just a PR stunt. Why is the ammunition of poor quality? Why are you robbing the Ukrainians? (...) They are supplying them with low-quality and overpriced ammunition. And the Prime Minister pretends to be doing everything for Ukraine. The opposite is true.“
Petr Fiala replied: „With the ammunition initiative, you are both treading on thin ice and endangering the safety of a lot of people. And the accomplishments of what we're trying to achieve here. Don't question the quality of this stuff, you know nothing about it.“ – „But that's what your Strnad says! You had him in the White House, that's what your armourer says,“ the ex-prime minister jumped in. „I didn't have any armourer in the White House, I really don't remember. I'm not a lobbyist for arms dealers,“ Fiala replied. Andrej Babiš pointed to a photo from the prime minister's trip to Washington this year, in which CSG owner Michal Strnad is sitting at the same table with the prime minister and national security adviser Pojar – the photo was taken at a gala dinner the day after Fiala met President Biden.
The January „reconciliation“ meeting was obviously not a success
Deník N also reported that Babiš and Strnad were supposed to meet in January to mend their relations. Did it work? There can hardly be any talk of a positive outcome of the meeting. This is evidenced by Babiš's recent statements regarding the meeting of EU leaders in Paris. „The meeting in Paris is clear proof that the ammunition initiative, the old, moldy, overpriced, non-transparent ammunition, did not work,“ the head of the ANO movement commented on the meeting. He was clearly returning to the criticism of the specific ammunition that was to be supplied by Strnad's Czechoslovak Group.
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